Your Mortgage Decisions sees benefits from fee charging
Share
Mortgage broker, Your Mortgage Decisions, says its new fee-charging structure is reaping rewards for its team of advisers after it was introduced at the start of 2010.
After an internal review of ongoing compliance procedures towards the end of last year Your Mortgage Decisions implemented the new structure in accordance with the regulator’s Treating Customers Fairly initiative.
It says having worked within the new structure throughout 2010, it has seen no reduction in fee income compared to the previous twelve months. It has also led to an improvement in some advisers’ remuneration levels due to them finding it easier to work within a defined structure.
Advisers work on a fee-charging basis undertaking a holistic lifestyle fact find over a two-appointment process.
Martin Wade, director at Your Mortgage Decisions, says: “We have always encouraged our advisers to charge a fee as we feel the quality of advice and service given sufficiently justifies this. However, with regulation changing we felt it made sense to bring some uniformity to our fee structure both in terms of the regulatory angle and to make sure fees are even more transparent for clients. This current policy was introduced at the start of the year and has worked well since.
“Fee-charging was once a hotly contested debate among mortgage intermediaries but it has become increasingly evident that many have already ingrained this into their business models.
“A poll by RBS Intermediary Partners found that only 4% of attendants at a recent Forum event in Sunderland ruled out ever charging a fee. This not only illustrates the nature of the market but also shows that intermediaries have clearly recognised the need to change their operating business models and are looking to diversify.
“Nevertheless intermediaries still need a strong level of support in order to do this which is why we remain committed to helping firms though any transitional phase by not only providing an extensive training and development facility but also by mentoring them through the whole process.”
If you enjoyed this article, sign up here to receive daily email updates from Mortgage Strategy and Follow @mortgagestrat
